GILROY - The high speed train has left the station, but now one Central Coast city is changing its stance.
"I am certainly a proponent of better transportation for our state," said Al Pinherio, mayor of Gilroy, back in October 2008 when the High Speed Rail Project was first put out to California voters. Now, the city isn't so sure about the project that would cost the state billions of dollars.
Thomas Haglund, city administrator for Gilroy, said the high speed rail could bring in as many as 15,000 passengers coming through the city, but he said it also comes with a price tag.
What that price tag is, Gilroy doesn't know yet.
"That's part of an overall analysis we have yet to receive from the High Speed Rail Authority," Haglund said.
He said it would cost a lot of work and money, something the city doesn't know it can do.
"We would have deep concern if the high speed rail system would cause us to have to add personnel or add equipment and other infrastructure that we have not planned to otherwise add to the city," Haglund said.
He said Gilroy has had a balanced budget for the last three years and that came at a price as well, cutting 71 employees, almost a third of city staff, in 2008-09.
"We've been doing very well, but that balanced budget came with a tremendous amount of pain here in Gilroy," he said.
There are two proposals for the high speed rail in Gilroy: through downtown, adjacent to or in combination with the Union Pacific rail line that runs through the Cal Train station; and east of the Gilroy Premium Outlets that would run largely through some county area, and portions of the city.
